Survival
by Silverythm
Summary: Experimental plot bunny. Scarlet is a career tribute for this year's Hunger Games. Something went wrong on her way to the Arena. Is she ready for this? Starts a few months before the fellowship is formed.
1. Chapter 1

Hi everyone. This random plot bunny just popped into my head. Ever since watching Hunger Games, I've always wanted there to be a crossover. I was thinking of Katniss in Middle Earth, but then I thought heck, with an original character, I would have more freedom. I also messed with the hunger games universe a little.

Anyway, here's the opening.

* * *

Chapter 1: There's a glitch in the universe

Scarlet never wanted to be a career. Despite her father's success as a career in the 65th Hunger Games, she never saw the point of running around and killing people for glory. Neither did she see the point in placing herself in danger for no good reason. She was from a wealthy district! There were perks to that! And part of those perks was having idiotic reckless violent people happily volunteer so that normal folk like her did have to.

That wasn't to say that Scarlet didn't know how to fight. With a vicious Career father who had no sons, Scarlet was brought up to be the son he never had. But just because she knew how to hunt, camp, identify local flora and fauna and kill didn't mean she wanted to. She was not a coward. She simply valued her own life more and was disgusted by the cruelty of the games. There was so much more she could do with her life rather than needlessly throwing it away.

Unfortunately for Scarlet, this year, the odds were not in her favour. Despite living in a district which should have had plenty of careers who should have happily volunteered, her name was drawn. Her father had refused the thought of her being replaced by a volunteer. It would bring disgrace upon the house and his legacy he had said. And so, that was how Ariel Scarlet Winters, better known as Scarlet or Scar, ended up being shipped to the capital.

To make matters worse, as though the fact that she was a tribute was not bad enough, her co-tribute was Ethan Hansen. Like her, Ethan Hansen was a trained career. The rising star of the latest batch of Careers, Ethan Hansen was effectively labelled the Prince Charming of her district. However, in Scarlet's most honest and inner opinion, he could go jump a lake for all she cared. 'Prince' Hansen was tall, blonde, well built, physically fit and completely narcissistic and more importantly, a 'ladies' man'. Looking at his smile, Scarlet could almost puke her lunch out. Thankfully, 'Prince' Hansen never had a reason to pay any attention to her. Not to her the unkempt girl who raged and grunted when forced to gut hunted game under her father's watchful eye. No, no. Not when there were plenty of pretty flouncy sweet young things who threw themselves at him hoping to marry him and take possession of his fortune when he inevitably got himself killed one day. Scarlet allowed herself to acknowledge that it was an unkind thought but she was still convinced that it was true.

Nevertheless, that was history. She was already in the spectator dome on stage with her fellow tributes. Apparently the designers of the Hunger Games had new technology they wanted to test this year. On the stage before the tributes were circular platforms. It was supposed to be a teleportation device. It was also supposed to up the entertainment value for the spectators. The tributes were to step onto the circular platforms where they would then be teleported to where the old tube platforms used to be; all equidistant from the Cornucopia. This allowed the spectators to watch every moment and emotion of the tributes; from before entering the arena to the end of the Games.

The teleportation platforms had another function. It would help teleport gifts from sponsors straight to the tributes. This increased the interactive factor for the sponsors who could personally place their gifts on the platform and watch it immediately arrive before their chosen tribute.

The hum of the roaring crowd lessened.

It was almost time.

Stepping onto the platform, Scarlet cast a final glance at the crowd. She would live. She didn't like the fact that she had no choice in being a tribute. She didn't like the fact that she had to work with 'Prince' Ethan Hansen. But all of that no longer mattered. She was trained for this; more so than most of the other tributes. She would fight and she would live.

Scarlet tied to keep calm as her eyes darted back and forth. All the tributes' platforms had started to light a bright green and some had already begun to flicker and become sketchy images. Meeting Ethan's eyes, Scarlet nodded. She knew the plan. They were to race for the supplies and kill any other non-career tributes in the ensuring bloodbath.

Scarlet then looked down at her disappearing hands as she felt herself become more and more insubstantial. Looking past her hands, Scarlet suddenly noticed a flashing red light segment on the outer ring of her teleportation platform. She looked at the platform of the other tributes and realised all of them had fully green lit platforms. Something was wrong! Spinning quickly to face the organisers, her wide eyes were the last anyone saw before the flashing red segment stopped flashing and the increasing beeping sound turned shrill.

Scarlet was gone. So were the rest of the tributes. However, when the crowd turned their eyes onto the screen onstage, the tributes had arrived on their respective platform. Scarlet had not.

* * *

Somewhere in Middle Earth

Scarlet flickered back into existence and upon becoming substantial; immediately crouched down on reflex before assessing her surroundings. She was in a forest. That much, she was sure. However, where this forest was, she had no idea. She wondered if the Game-maker had suddenly changed the rules at the last moment. Perhaps they had decided to scratch the bloodbath and instead of placing all tributes at the same starting point, to put them randomly around the arena.

It made no sense to her though. The bloodbath was a spectator favourite. Why would the Game-maker have gotten rid of it? Unless they intended to drag out the games by ensuring more tributes lived to battle each other thereby dragging out the public entertainment value of the Games?

None of it made sense to her; yet there was no time for her to think more. If she was still in the arena like she thought she was, she was still under threat of danger. She had to find the Cornucopia, and Hansen, and fast.

* * *

And so there is it. A REALLY short opening to a plot bunny that would not escape my head till it flowed onto my keyboard. Not too sure how far I will go with this. I'm also unsure of how much of a link I will keep with the Hunger Games universe.

So yes, a few things you may have noticed.

Yes, Scarlet is a trained career tribute. I could have made her more a Katniss, no training yet skilled character, but I wanted her to be trained. No, I am not trying to make her a Mary-sue. I really am not. Even though she's trained, she will be flawed and she will have legitimate problems that will not easily be solved simply because she is trained. Besides, the trained careers in the Hunger Games all failed and died anyway. Training helps, but it does not guarantee anything.

You may also have noticed that Scarlet still thinks she's in the Arena. Yes. That is on purpose. I don't want her to have the time to deny she is in Middle Earth. She thinks she is where she should be. No time to whine. Some fics have really whiney characters who cannot handle the shock of their arrival. I don't like whiney characters and thus I gave my character no reason to whine... yet.

Finally, I think that there will be little to no romance in this fic. Simply because the main male characters of ME are all old men and Tributes are at MAX 18 years old. If there is romance between any of them then there

Anyway, like I said earlier. This is just a plot bunny. Let me know what you guys think.

Omake: Other ways our tribute made it to Middle Earth

Stepping into the tube, Scarlet cast a final glance at the crowd. She would live. She didn't like the fact that she had no choice in being a tribute. She didn't like the fact that she had to work with 'Prince' Ethan Hansen. But all of that no longer mattered. She was trained for this; more so than most of the other tributes. She would fight and she would live.

She kept calm as the tube doors shut and begun to rise.

When she emerged, Scarlet squinted her eyes a little from the change in lighting and quickly took stock of her surroundings.

She was on a pedestal. In the centre of a very strange ring of men. All of whom were staring at her in shock. There was an old man with a beard, a really short man, a child, and a few other men, some scruffy looking and some not. Suddenly aware of a slight weight upon her head, Scarlet reached up and pulled the strange object from her hair.

It was a ring. And it was calling to her, promising her all the power in the world.

Looking up from the ring to the men who had collectively gasped and to those who had even drawn weapons when she held the ring in her hand, Scarlet could only make one comment.

'There's been a glitch in the universe.'


	2. Chapter 2: Hunger

**I warn you. This chapter is still about Scarlet and her lonely self. Her seriously lonely self and her lonely monologs. **

'Thoughts are written in these inverted commas'

"Speech is written in these double inverted commas"

* * *

Survival Chapter 2: **Even in Middle Earth, the Hunger Games reigns.**

She had to find the Cornucopia, and Hansen, and fast.

Scarlet paused to assess the situation. She was in the middle of a forest with no way to gain her bearings. Ideally she would be headed towards the Cornucopia, where the weapons and supplies would be. But where in the heavens was that?! Which direction was it in? Sure she could choose a random direction and walk but there was a high chance that she would be heading towards the perimeter of the arena and further away from the Cornucopia rather than towards it.

Scarlet raised her eyes to the 'sky' and muttered to herself, "Game-makers, this curveball is seriously not cool."

Knowing she wouldn't actually get a response, she huffed and started to mentally catalogue her resources and consider her options; all she had were her clothes, her windbreaker, boots, gloves, hair-tie and snowflake pin. Taking in her surroundings, Scarlet observed tall dense trees, large fallen branches, bushes of various sorts, calls of several animals, and the faint rustle of a river of some sort.

With her lack of resources in mind, Scarlet started to try and recall lessons from her father's training.

* * *

*Flashback*

"In the Arena you will be without a weapon to start. You and most of the other tributes will run to the Cornucopia for weapons and supplies. This is when the bloodbath will begin. As a career the most important tactic is to take control of the Cornucopia and supplies. To do that, you need to reach the weapons before any others and kill all other non-careers in the area. Thus, you must be fast and agile."

Scarlet recalled her sitting on the grass at the edge of a training forest as her father paced before her, imparting his pearls of wisdom.

"However, there is no guarantee that that plan will always work out well; we must prepare for all possible scenarios so that you survive. This is why, you will learn the way of the staff."

That was when Scarlet received her first bo staff.

"Why the staff? The Arena is a forested area. Anything you need must be obtained from the Arena itself. In such a place, the only easily available weapon is wood and stones. With the staff, if you hit the right places hard enough, you can break bones, dislocate limbs and fracture skulls; hence killing the enemy. This is now your weapon. You will learn to make one, use one and care for one."

* * *

Knowing that her first plan of action was to equip herself with a weapon, Scarlet began to search the forest floor for a suitable branch that was long enough and sturdy enough to be used as a weapon. She considered herself lucky in that the woods she was in had many fallen branches to choose from and most of which were already fairly smooth to begin with.

After much searching, Scarlet found an ideal branch that was just lightly shorter than her. It was not as long as her usual staff and slightly heavier on one side but it felt sturdy, flexible and was mostly smooth except for a few bumps and notches that she would have to smooth down before use.

Scarlet reached for the knife that should have been at her waist only to grasp air.

She groaned at the realisation that she had no knives. Yet. She had trained with her knives for so long that it was instinct for her to use them. Sighing, Scarlet racked her brain for an alternative tool to use to smooth down her staff. Recalling the river she had heard earlier, Scarlet headed towards it to look for rocks and running water, whilst hoping that they would be suitable substitute tools to craft her staff.

A couple of hours later, Scarlet was done with her staff but the sun had risen high. It was already midday and yet Scarlet had neither heard nor seen any other tributes. It was strange and disconcerting. Never had she heard of a Hunger Games where nothing happened in the first few hours. It created an uneasy feeling and set her on the edge. Scarlet felt as though she had entered the calm before the storm and her trained sense of suspicion could not shake of the feeling or paranoia that something was going to happen. Nothing felt right.

Yet Scarlet could do nothing to change any of that. It was already noon and she had not eaten since early morning. She may have been trained for the Hunger Games by her father who made her survive for weeks on little sustenance but hunger was never a comfortable feeling and she would never turn down food if she had a choice.

Scarlet watched the fish in the clear river that swam by.

'Lunch! Perfect!' she though as she once more reached for her knives… which were not there. Yet.

Grasping air once more, Scarlet made and unpleasant face; she was really getting irritated by the lack of her knives and she was truly beginning to curse the game-makers for doing this to her by changing the setting of the games.

'Why,' she thought. 'Why did my year have to be THE year that the game-makers decide to scatter us randomly away from the Cornucopia. WHY! Urgh.'

Rubbing her face with her hands, Scarlet tried to think of an alternate method of fishing since she could not just throw her knife at the fish. Taking stock of her resources again, Scarlet finally had a plan in order.

She took out her hair-tie to use as a fishing line. She had contemplated using her bootlaces but decided not to risk it as having improper footwear was dangerous if she had to run on an instant's notice. She then took her snowflake pin and though to use it as a bait or hook. Originally she was reluctant to use it and risk losing it as it was precious to her but she figured that it was more important for her to make sure she was alive rather than hold on to useless sentimentality. The snowflake pin would work fairly well as a hook for it was made of metal and had sharpened edges. It was almost confiscated at the Hunger Games inspection but was finally allowed though.

After preparing her line and digging around for some bait, Scarlet felt ready to fish. Throwing in her line, Scarlet only had to wait a few moments before she felt something catch on her line. Giving the line a quick yank, she was very displeased to find a clump of river weeds on the end of the line.

Grunting in frustration, Scarlet tried again.

And again.

And again.

Until she saw that there was not point trying again and her patience had gone up in flames.

By then it was early evening and Scarlet knew she had to move on for she could not stay out in the open river bank for too long. It left her vulnerable as others could spot her from afar and creep up on her. She also could not stand the idea of waiting around for the games to end.

Giving up on feeding herself for the day, Scarlet moved back into the safety of the woods and trekked a path parallel to the river till the sun had set and she begun to tire. At night, Scarlet picked a fairly dense tree and climbed up. It was not safe to rest on the ground. Using her belt to secure herself to the trunk, she leaned against the tree and watched the night 'sky' waiting for the nightly count of the Fallen.

Something was wrong. Scarlet had waited for what felt like hours and yet there was no news of the tributes, no projection of any Fallen in the night sky.

'This is strange,' thought Scarlet. 'Nobody? Absolutely nobody has died? Are we that scattered? This means that I am unlikely to bump into anyone for quite a while. What exactly are the game-makers up to?'

Scarlet frowned at the thought. Nothing was going to way it was planned and she was becoming seriously concerned. There was a high chance that the other tributes had also formed an alliance which might explain the lack of deaths. Were that the case, Scarlet would be in serious trouble if she met them alone. Part of the career's advantage was their combined strength from the start that could easily overpower and oppose the scattered tributes from other districts who were unlikely to form alliances so easily.

Suddenly, for the first time in hours, Scarlet heard the sounds of people moving through the forest and voices.

Instantly becoming alert, she tucked herself further into the tree and looked around. Down below some ways off in the dim moonlight, Scarlet started to make out human-like figured in the undergrowth.

'Other tributes! Finally, something I know how to deal with.' she thought.

Yet as the figures got closer, Scarlet began to realise that they did not look like tributes at all. In fact, the figured did not even look human.

Unbeknownst to her, the figures were indeed not human. They were a band of orcs. But being not of middle earth, she did not know that.

'They look like mutations… with weapons. But that can't be right. Mutations are usually animalistic creatures created out of the Fallen. Yet there has been no Fallen shown tonight! Unless the game-makers have decided to do away with the screening of the Fallen tributes? Why was everything different this year? And these mutations look much more dangerous than the usual ones. This is too many changes! The uncertainty is going to drive me crazy.'

Scarlet counted a total of 7 mutations. Assuming those were tributes from her games, then there were still 17 tributes left. Yet she could not quite tell if the mutations were even the tributes from her games. They did not even resemble the tributes she had met prior to the commencement of the games. If they were tributes, Scarlet sincerely hoped her fellow careers were not amongst them. Yes if they were, it no longer mattered. If they posed a threat, they had to die.

Scarlet decided not to risk confronting them even though she was in desperate need of a weapon and the mutations possessed several. However, the arrival of the mutations was a clear indication that she was not in a safe area and had to leave the vicinity soon. They also meant that she could not rely on the assistance of the other careers any longer. She had only herself. Almost immediately, she felt it a heavy burden to bear.

* * *

For the next two days, Scarlet continued trekking a path upriver so as to remain close to a water source. She had tried fishing several times more but again reaped nothing from her efforts.

She was getting more tired, hungry and frustrated as the days went by. Her dependency on her knives was also a very sore point for her. Several times Scarlet spotted some bird or rabbit that she could have struck down with a single throw of her knife and yet, she did not have them.

The most frustrating moment was when she had stopped to rest against a tree and directly across her, slightly more than two meters away, out hopped a rabbit from the undergrowth. It was white and cute and fluffy and edible and so close but yet so far.

Scarlet had instinctively reached for her non-existent knives and once again, grabbed thin air.

Groaning in frustration Scarlet thumped her head back against the trunk behind her before glaring at the rabbit again. It was just sitting there to innocently, watching her whilst happily chewing on grass.

"You're mocking me. The universe is mocking me." Scarlet scolded the bunny.

At that instance, her stomach decided to growl and the bunny hopped one foot closer.

Scarlet considered taking it out with her staff and so raised her staff in preparation. Waiting patiently, Scarlet silently prayed for the rabbit to inch a little closer as it was just out of her staff's reach.

Just as the rabbit looked as though it was about to take one more hop forward, it looked up at her, then turned and ran back into the hidden undergrowth.

"Come on!" Disbelieving her bad luck, Scarlet threw her staff away in the direction of the rabbit in frustration and huffed.

And with impeccable timing, her stomach chose that very moment to give a loud growl of disapproval.

Scarlet narrowed her eyes in frustration. Her dependence on her knives was really starting to irritate her. She had always considered herself fairly well prepared for the Hunger Games. She had the requisite training in weaponry, and outdoor survival skills. Yet for all that her father had prepared her, it seemed that there was a flaw in his training. It rested on the flawed assumption that she would easily obtain her weapons from the Cornucopia at the very start. All other training and planning and strategy was built and developed based on post bloodbath game play. This was the very moment when Scarlet swore to herself that if she ever survived this Hunger Game, she would strive to reduce her dependency on her knives.

After that incident, Scarlet tried to refrain from stopping too often and restricted herself to eating nuts or fruits that she could find; things she half-guessed-half-hoped were edible.

In the two days she met neither persons nor mutations. She did not allow her mind to stray far and concentrated on covering ground in hopes of putting distance between her and the mutations and perhaps trying to find the Arena perimeter or Cornucopia. If she were to hit the perimeter, at least she would know which direction was the centre and hence the Cornucopia. Though several times she had the depressing thought that perhaps she had passed the Cornucopia and nearest perimeter and was in fact trekking a very long route towards another perimeter. Also, several more times she still wished for her knives but was forced to adapt using other materials she had with her.

On the third day, Scarlet was getting more paranoid at the lack of fallen tributes. She was also beginning to tire physically and mentally as the silence and loneliness begun to play tricks on her mind and the voices in her head begun to overwhelm her.

'Okay, Scarlet, there is something seriously wrong here. Oh? You don't say. Yes, yes. I know. Oh heavens, I am talking to myself in my head. Yes. Yes you are. Okay shutup. I'm hungry. I'm hungry. I'm hungry. Scarlet, remember to always be on your guard. Sometimes the game-makers like to manipulate circumstances to make things harder or easier or more entertaining. Yes father, I'm trying. Try harder.'

Suddenly, Scarlet sensed something that put her mind and stomach on alert.

She smelt the faint scent of smoke and roasting meat. Someone very nearby had started a flame upwind. Instantly, she headed towards the direction of the source in order to investigate. It did not matter if the person who started the flame was friendly or unfriendly. If friendly, she had found one of her allies. If unfriendly, she would simply eliminate the threat and steal his resources; especially the food.

This was the way of the game.

* * *

**AN**: Uh yes, I know there were a lot of references to the hunger games in this chapter but that's mostly because this chapter was about Scarlet and her suffering. So naturally she would be making references to her universe. But see! There was mention of orcs! So yes, more Lotr references to come.

I actually wanted to make Scarlet suffer more. Starve, get poisoned from eating the wrong food, hallucinate, go a bit mad from the silence and the complete shift in her expectations, etc etc. In the end I decided not to because I didn't think it would be very interesting for fans of lotr and I also don't really want to write a super long story. I do hope I managed to bring out how stressed she was though. Imagine being trained for something and then being thrown not one but several bell curves. No weapons, no allies, no direction, no food, no news. I think that would have made her initial time really sucky.

Anyway, please R&R.

Up next! Who started that fire? Hobbit? Man? Elf? Orc? Wizard? A fellow tribute?


	3. Chapter 3: Not that easy

**So, Scarlet meets someone. Huzzah!**

**Also, because I am a terrible scholar of Tolkien languages, here is the language key for this chapter.**

"Scarlet's normal English speak."

"Westron"

* * *

Chapter 3: Not that easy

She smelt the faint scent of smoke and roasting meat. Someone very nearby had started a flame upwind. Instantly, she headed towards the direction of the source in order to investigate. It did not matter if the person who started the flame was friendly or unfriendly. If friendly, she had found one of her allies. If unfriendly, she would simply eliminate the threat and steal his resources; especially the food.

This was the way of the game.

* * *

Scarlet neared the source of the scent.

It was nearly sundown and in the thick of the forest, she could see the glow of the flame cast upon the trees. Scarlet crept as close as she dared and observed the campsite. All she could see was a person hunched over the fire pit.

The person was dressed in clothes that looked positively medieval. His clothes, it was definitely a male, looked nothing like the standard issue attire the tributes were given. This was strange. To make matters more confusing, the male looked nothing like any of the tributes she had met before the games during the training period and he looked far too old to have qualified for the games.

Scarlet stiffened in horror as she took in all her observations, coupled with her experiences in the past few days. The blinking light of the teleporter, the arrival point that was nowhere near the Cornucopia, the lack of a bloodbath, the lack of fallen despite 3 days having passed, the strange mutations which did not look like a cross between tributes and any recognisable animal, the presence of mutations when there were no fallen, the foreign flora, and finally, the presence of a fully grown adult who looked like he was in the wrong era.

Scarlet slowly came to the scary possibility that she was not in the arena. It was a scary thought because now there were no rules. She was trained by her father to win a game set by rules. Every strategy she was taught; from being trained to run fast to the Cornucopia to secure a weapon, to learning how to hack people fast and take possession of the Cornucopia, teaming up with the other careers, learning how to use a staff, learning to run away if conditions were not in her favour and only return to kill when conditions were at her advantage. All of these lessons were meant to win the game. A game. But if what she suspected was true, she was no longer in the game and that meant that most of her advantage was lost.

Keeping herself calm, Scarlet tried to formulate a plan. She could not be sure of exactly what was going on. She also could not tell if the guy was hostile and hence decided the best thing for her to do was to arm herself first regardless of whether she was in the arena or somewhere else.

She briefly debated using her staff to crush his skull in his sleep before stealing his weapons. This was what she was trained to do. Kill first, eliminate the threat. But if her suspicions were correct, doing so would mean that she was killing what she assumed to be a simple, if well-armed, camper. As much as she was trained to kill tributes, she did not relish in the idea of killing innocent people.

Her conscience was getting to her.

Scarlet slowly considered her options. She was hungry. She was lost. The man on the other hand, seemed well equipped to survive this place. He might also have an idea of where she is and how she can return home. However, if she killed him, he would be useless to her. Yet if she did not kill him and he turned out to be a threat, she risked being killed. Her instinct and training said kill on sight, another acknowledged that she was woefully unprepared to survive and could stand to benefit from his assistance.

After much contemplation, Scarlet finally decided to wait until the man was resting to steal a weapon from him. If he turned out to be friendly, she would ask him for help. If he turned out to be hostile, she would just have to rely on her reflexes and training to protect her.

With a strange sort of jealousy, she watched where he kept his knife and sword. She decided to go for the knife first. Whilst the reach of the knife would be far less than that of the sword, she was better trained to use knives. Also, she missed the reassuring weight of a knife in her hand.

With that plan in mind, Scarlet settled herself down for a long wait till darkness came and the man slept.

* * *

When night fell, Scarlet crept up to the man. Treading as silently as possible, she kept her eyes on his face as she reached for the knife. Just as her fingers made contact with the hilt, strong fingers captured her wrist in a firm grip.

The Ranger had been waiting for her.

Immediately, Scarlet's trained reflexes kicked in and she whacked his hand with her staff, causing the man to loosen his grip a little. In that moment, she planted her staff into the ground and launched herself to the other end of the campsite.

At the same moment, the Ranger got up and drew his sword. They were not at a standoff. Both held their weapons at the ready while sizing up their opponent, neither doing more than keeping a wary stance.

The silence dragged on.

Finally the Ranger grew restless of waiting and decided to make the first move.

~~~~~~~ backtrack interlude ~~~~~~~~~

Slightly earlier in the day.

Theoraan was having an average day. It was a typical day in the life of a Ranger in the woods. He had just finished a three month stint guarding the Shire and was headed to Imladris to make some reports before heading back home to make further reports to Halbarad.

Yet on this typically uneventful day, he had an unknown visitor. The visitor was small, as tall as a Halfling could be. He was also rather rude. Instead of coming out to introduce himself, the visitor had chosen to approach him in the dead of night. Believing the visitor to be a Halfling, and hence not much of a threat, Theoraan allowed the small creature to approach; only stopping him when he reached for his knife.

Imagine his surprise when the supposedly harmless visitor retaliated with a swift knock on his knuckles and then proceeded to display amazing agility by launching himself through the air to the other side of the camp. Having gotten a glimpse of what the visitor was capable off, Theoraan immediately reached for his sword and swore not to underestimate a stranger again.

~~~~~~~~~~ End Interlude~~~~~~~~~~~~

They remained at a standoff for a fairly long time.

Finally, Theoraan decided that just standing there was simply a waste of time and decided to do something about this visitor.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?"

Silence greeted the clearing.

Scarlet continued staring at the man. He had spoken to her, of that she was certain but she could make no sense of his words.

Seeing no response other than a raised eyebrow, Theoraan decided to try again.

"Who are you? Why are you here?"

The man had spoken to her again. Again she did not catch or understand anything he said. Lowering her staff slightly, she gave him the universal sign of 'I totally don't get it' by shaking her head whilst maintaining eye contact and keeping a confused look on her face.

Scarlet even went so far as to tell him, "I don't understand."

It was then Theoraan's turn to stare in confusion.

Realising that there was a language barrier between them, what inevitably followed was the lowering of weapons as both parties exhausted the list of languages known to them. Being from Panem, Scarlet was quickly out of languages. Theoraan on the other hand was an avid traveller (it was part of the job) and hence continued trying various languages and dialects that he had come across on his travels.

Yet none invoked any response of recognition from the child before him.

As the man continued with his attempts, Scarlet slowly considered the thought that not only was she not in the Arena, she was very likely not in any part of Panem known to her. There was no telling how far away from home she was. Where had the teleporter taken her?

Finally faced with unequivocal proof that she was completely lost in some place unknown with no knowledge of how she got here or no known way of going back, added to the stress and hunger from the last few days, Scarlet wanted to break down and cry.

However, crying was not something Scarlet was used to doing. She had not cried for a very long time. Her father believed crying was a sign of weakness and she learnt that lesson pretty quickly. Instead, Scarlet decided to voice out her frustrations.

Completely ignoring her male companion who had exhausted his list of languages, Scarlet turned and faced the nearest tree. Once she was close enough to the tree trunk she gently tapped her head against it.

"Why." Tap.

"Why." Tap.

"Whyyyyyyy." Tap.

Resting her head against the trunk for the moment, she heaved a sigh before continuing her self-mutilating actions.

"You have GOT to be KIDDING ME." Thump.

"First I chosen to play the damn games." Thump.

"Then I get the messed up year with innovative Game-makers and experimental teleportation processes" Thump.

"Ow." Scarlet paused to rub her forehead. That last thump was a little too forceful. Yet she continued.

"Then I get the stupid faulty beeping teleporter." Tap.

"THEN I get thrown into some unknown place." Tap.

"And OF COURSE if that wasn't enough, I have to land in a place where I DON'T KNOW THE DAMN LANGUAGE." Thump! "Ow."

"COME ON! WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?! Scarlet exclaimed the last bit whilst glaring up at the sky. Never mind that her previous actions of hitting the tree and sudden burst of rage had Theoraan wondering if he himself did something wrong so as to deserve the great misfortune of encountering a crazy person on his travels when all he really wanted to do was sleep peacefully and continue about his business the next day.

Having expended all her rage, the two unlikely companions looked at each other again. Neither knew what to do.

Finally, Scarlet decided she was tired and exhausted. She figured that since the man had taken the effort to try and communicate with her instead of killing her on sight, he was worth trusting. Taking the first step, she approached him with her staff down. Indicating to herself, she made the proper introduction.

"Scarlet."

Realising what the child was doing, Theoraan decided to be polite and follow suit. Whilst he was still curious as to why a child was out here all alone, there was no need to be rude.

"Theoraan."

Nodding in response, Scarlet then turned to a nearby tree and climbed onto a suitable branch to settle down for the rest of the night. Crossing her arms, she leaned against the tree and allowed her eyelids to flutter close.

Raising an eyebrow at his companion's actions Theoraan simply shrugged and went back to this make shift bed of sorts. He would deal with this in the morning.

* * *

Theoraan woke the next morning to the soft sounds of shuffling and the crackling of logs. Jerking awake, he instantly reached for his knife before his awareness caught up with his reflexes. Looking across the fire pit to the kid who was watching him curiously, the memory of last night's encounter slowly drifted back into his mind.

Lowering his hand, he suddenly realised that he was merely grasping a stick. Staring at it with a dumb look on his face, he briefly wondered how his trusty knife had transformed into a wooden stick. The amused snort from across the camp caught his attention and he looked up to see the kid, '_no, Scarlet_' he reminded himself, casually twirling the blade in her hand.

Having caught Theoraan's attention and having alerted him of the location of his wayward blade, Scarlet turned back to the fish which she had set on the flames not long ago.

After the events of last night, Scarlet awoke with the dawn to see Theoraan sleeping below. Slipping quickly down the tree, she was quick to swipe his knife now that he was not waiting for her. With the knife, Scarlet then made her way down to the stream where she practiced with the knife until it felt as natural to her as her own. Never use a weapon you are unaccustomed to unless absolutely necessary. That was a lesson her father had taught her. Especially since her chosen method of murder was to throw her knives at a vital organ, accuracy was of utmost importance. Once she was confident, she went fishing and relished each and every speared fish with each throw of the knife. Hunger was not something she enjoyed feeling and gutting the fishes felt like such satisfactory revenge on hunger that she almost burst out in maniacal laughter. Thankfully, she managed to control herself and finished the job swiftly before returning to the camp to cook the fish.

Theoraan ate breakfast silently though he could not help but be a little disturbed by the look of utter bliss on Scarlet's face and moan of satisfaction that came out every time she bit into the fish. Ignoring her for the moment, he wondered what to do with his newfound companion. He was a ranger, used to solitary movements and dangerous lands. He could not afford to take care of a weak child and perform his duties at the same time. Yet his sense of responsibility mandated that he ensure she reached her desired destination safely. It would not do well for a young child to travel around in these woods alone.

Momentarily forgetting that language was an issue, Theoraan asked, "Where are you headed?"

Looking up from her delicious fish at the sound of his voice, Scarlet looked at the Ranger quizzically. '_He isn't honestly expecting me to understand and answer is he?_' she thought.

Immediately understanding Scarlet's blank face, Theoraan thought himself a fool for forgetting that important point on communication issues. Heaving a sigh, he searched his mind for other ideas as to what to do with Scarlet whilst the both of them cleared the camp.

With everything cleared up, it was time to decide where their paths would lead from here on out.

Scarlet liked to think she was a good judge of character. Thus far, Theoraan had yet to do anything untoward to her. He had also yet to demand his knife back. That was a good sign. Armed, she knew she had a fighting chance against him if he tried anything funny.

Knowing herself lost in a land unknown, Scarlet decided that sticking with Theoraan was a better idea than trying to stay on her own. At least he looked like a man who knew where he was going. With his help perhaps she could find a way to more non-medieval civilisation and find a way home.

Theoraan once more opened his mouth to try and ask Scarlet where she intended to go from here. The words died when he remembered the language barrier. Snapping his mouth shut, he tried to gesture 'where do you want to go?'.

It did not work out too well.

Luckily for him, Scarlet was a pretty smart girl and simply ignored his attempts to communicate and using her hand, gestured for him to proceed walking.

Getting the hint, Theoraan simply decided that he would drop the kid off at Bree since it was somewhat on his way. Being a prominent crossroad for travellers there may be someone who could recognise Scarlet or her language. Bringing the kid to Bree would fulfil his sense of honour in protecting the child and then allow him to continue onwards with his duties unhindered.

* * *

**So, yes tada the figure in the woods was a Ranger and not Aragorn. Sorry if his name is a little strange. It was the best my brain could come up with. I was going to name him Thorean but my brain kept pronouncing Thor-ran and some how my brain then translated that into Theo-ran when typing... so that's how he got his name. BUT, at least he has a name now! In my draft's he's just called 'the Ranger'. **

**Also, Scarlet FINALLY got herself a weapon! And she also figured that she's not in the Arena.**

**Also, I am terribly sorry if the jumping points of view was confusing.**

**~~~~~~~~~ OMAKE~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**I really wanted to change my story such that Scarlet chanced upon Aragorn after he fell off the cliff, instead of some random Ranger, but as I tried to plan out the rest of the story after that, I realised that it would not work out. So anyway, here is the alternate version and its really long.**

**IF Scarlet Met Aragorn Instead - **when Aragorn was thrown off the cliff and ends up floating in the river, Scarlet hauls him out of the river

Scarlet had been trekking along the river for two days now and she was approaching a region of the river that ran between two cliffs. 'I didn't know the arena had cliffs….' she thought.

Scarlet decided now was a good time as ever to stop and take a drink. As she approached the bank, Scarlet spotted a rather oddly shaped brown log by the river bank. At first, she was about to dismiss it as a normal log however the glint of sunlight that reflected off the log raised her suspicions. Treading carefully, Scarlet crept up upon the log in order to investigate.

Now that she was closer to the log, Scarlet was finally able to identify it as a male. A fully grown male, with scruffy neck length hair and facial hair. Whoever he was, he was definitely too old to be a tribute. Even his attire was setting of alarm bells in her head. Full medieval battle armour with a sword and chain mail was certainly NOT tribute attire.

Wary of the body, Scarlet moved closer to inspect it further. Upon closer inspection, she felt a pulse from the neck and at the wrist. Certain that the man was alive, Scarlet debated helping him or leaving him there.

'_I should leave him to die. If I am still in the hunger games then tribute or not, his life shouldn't matter to me. But what if I'm NOT in the hunger games. Think about it Scar. Nothing thus far has jived with what I know the hunger games should be. I haven't seen any other tribute, I haven't seen any sign of the fallen and it's been 3 days. He's way too old to be a tribute. But if I'm not in the hunger games, then… where am I?!'_

The sudden realisation made Scarlet sit up in shock.

In her shock, she did not know how long she sat there turning over possibilities of where she was and what happened in her head until she heard the clops of horse hooves. There ahead of her approached a horse. She automatically assumed the horse belonged to the fallen man at her side.

Suddenly remembering the man, Scarlet scrambled up and started to check him for injuries, realising that she had left him in the cold water for a very long time. Scarlet could only see several bruises and scrapes on his arm though there was some blood crusted around his head. Using all her strength, Scarlet heaved and ho-ed and hauled the man and his heavy armour up the banks of the river and under the shelter of a fairly large tree. She then left to immediately gather wood to try and start a fire so as to warm him up and boil water to treat his wounds.

Whilst she was doing so, Scarlet reasoned to herself that if she was not in the arena and in a strange land instead, it was better to have him in her debt than to leave him to die. Just because she was trained to kill tributes on sight did not mean she had to kill everyone she met.

After awhile, Scarlet got a fire going and was trying to boil water using an empty gourd she had found. Next, she started stripping him of his armour and weaponry so as to have better access to his wounds. She jumped for joy and nearly gave a shout of victory when she found knives on his arsenal of weapons.

"I have a knife! Oh lord I have knife! Oh sweet knives, never leave me ever again!"

She then took of his wet top and hung it up to dry. She left his breeches because she was admittedly embarrassed. After cleaning his wounds and bandaging them with rolls of cloth she had found in the horse's saddle bag, Scarlet covered his torso with her windbreaker so as to warm him up from the chill of the river.

Once she had finished taking care of him, Scarlet skipped towards the river in joy and anticipation of finally having hot and fresh meat for the first time in days. However, before she went fishing proper, Scarlet gave the knives a few test runs by throwing them against a tree. Never use a weapon you are unaccustomed to unless absolutely necessary. That was a lesson her father had taught her. Especially since her chosen method of murder was to throw her knives at a vital organ, accuracy was of utmost importance.

Once she felt she knew the ins and out of the knives, Scarlet approached the river bank and tracked the swimming fishes with her eyes. Poised with her weapon, Scarlet waited for the right moment, inhaled and threw. There was a sudden splash and then a cloud of red rose in the river, Scarlet had hit her target. She threw two more knives in the same manner before wading into the waters to retrieve her catch of the day.

Sometime later, Scarlet was happily sated and warming herself up by the flames when she finally heard a groan from the man. Scooting over, she leaned over to check on him. Hearing him cough, Scarlet immediately propped him up and fed him some water.

Aragorn woke to a throbbing headache and an aching body. Opening his eyes, he saw the leaves of a tree and concluded that he was still alive. Still dazed, he tried to recall what happened and then he remembered the battle with the wargs and his incident off the cliff. Remembering the wargs and hence the battle and the danger facing the Rohans, Aragon's eye's snapped open and he tried to sit awake only to groan at his body's protest of the sudden motion. Quickly lying back down, he hacked a few coughs from his dry throat.

Suddenly he saw a small gourd of water presented before him That was when he finally realised he was not alone. Snapping his head to face his company Aragorn examined the person just as the person examined him back.

It was a boy. No. A girl, just shy of womanhood. Her hair was short but a blazing red colour.

She urged the gourd closer to him and he gratefully accepted it. Once he was rehydrated, Aragorn tried to thank her for her assistance.

Once the man had drunk the water, Scarlet watch him try to speak to her. Hearing a language she did not understand, Scarlet frowned. Evidently he understood her frown for she heard him try various other unrecognisable languages following the first attempt. She simply sat there and continue frowning whilst shaking her head a couple of times. She next tried her own language and yet it was his turn to frown at her.

Finally she gave up and simply said 'you have GOT to be kidding me. Am I even IN Panem any more?!" groaning, she facepalmed and just offered him the remaining two fishes instead.

Now rested, Aragorn contemplated his next plan of action. He knew he had to get back fast. There were people waiting for him. Yet he did not know what to do with the girl, Scarlet she called herself. He was to return to a warzone. There was no way to ensure her safety in such a place. Yet as far as he could tell, she was alone here in the middle of nowhere. He shuddered to think of what would happen to her if she chanced upon a patrol of orcs.

That single thought made the decision for him. Motioning her over, he waited until she was close by before lifting her onto his horse with ease.

Upon the horse, Scarlet looked down at the man called Aragorn in confusion. She was further confused then he mounted up behind her.

Having never ridden on a horse before, Scarlet could not help the loud squeak that escaped when Aragorn urged the horse into a gallop. Gripping on to the saddle very tightly, Scarlet decided that this was nothing like the horse drawn carriages of the Dome.

**So then they ride to Helms Deep where she is ushered into the caves to hide with the women and children and whilst the war is waging on outside, she can sing 'Safe and Sound' to comfort the children! SO PERFECT RIGHT?! Sadly, as I planned out the finer details, I decided this storyline wasn't to be. But at least you readers get the bonus!**

******Please R&R! Makes me happy.**


	4. Chapter 4: Snippets of Silence

**This chapter is about traveling. Because cars don't exist yet, horses are unavailable and teleporters are unreliable. **

**Also, because I am a terrible scholar of Tolkien languages, here is the language key for this chapter.**

"Scarlet's normal English speak."

"Westron"

Chapter 4: Snippets of near silence

* * *

Luckily for him, Scarlet was a pretty smart girl and simply ignored his attempts to communicate and using her hand, gestured for him to proceed walking.

Getting the hint, Theoraan simply decided that he would drop the kid off at Bree since it was somewhat on his way. Being a prominent crossroad for travellers there may be someone who could recognise Scarlet or her language. Bringing the kid to Bree would fulfil his sense of honour in protecting the child and allow him to continue onwards with his duties unhindered.

* * *

At first, they travelled in awkward silence. This was, of course, mostly because they could not understand each other even if they tried anyway.

Scarlet simply followed behind Theoraan quietly whilst keeping an eye on her surroundings. She could not help her cautious behaviour. Her father had conditioned her paranoia to the extent that it became second nature to her. Scarlet inadvertently made an unpleasant face as she recalled how much her father enjoyed jumping out of nowhere and scaring her. He did it whilst regular training, whilst training in the woods, even at home and even in the shower. No place was sacred. Scarlet then shook her head at the thought of how her father would cackle in glee for taking years off her life and then pull a 180 personality change and berate her for failing to have constant vigilance.

Whilst Scarlet was recalling her father's antics, Theoraan was also keeping an eye on her. He had to admit that he was rather impressed by the young lady that followed him. She was able to keep up with his demanding pace and yet showed no signs of tiring nor did she make any sounds of complaint. He briefly wondered how old she was. She looked about the same age as his son but he knew that his people aged slightly differently than common men. Regardless of what age she was, he felt that she should not be travelling alone on her own; dark times were upon them.

They continued their track for many hours; pausing a few times only to fill Theoraan's waterskin. Theoraan briefly noted that he was filling his waterskin much more frequently than he was used to. This was because he now had an extra mouth to feed. The first time he lent his waterskin to Scarlet was yet another uncomfortable moment. It started with him noticing that she would lag behind for moments despite having been able to keep up with him for most of the trek. His curiousity finally caused him to turn around in time to see her stoop to take a drink from the stream. Knowing that they would be headed further into the woods and away from a direct water source in time, he turned back towards her and offered her his waterskin; not saying a word.

Scarlet, who was bent over scooping water from the stream with her hands, turned to look at the skin bag held in the outstretched hand and met Theoraan's eyes. At his second insistent offer, Scarlet broke out into a smile and nodded her thanks. Taking the waterskin and uncapping it, Scarlet looked at Theoraan from the corner of her eyes as she brought the rim to her lips. Not seeing any protest about 'sharing saliva' or the like, she shrugged and took a gulp before capping it and returning it to him. Since then, whenever Theoraan to a swig of water, he would always offer it to her right after.

Other than the water incident, there were other mishaps and incidences before they settled into a comfortable travel routine.

* * *

Other mishaps included the time Scarlet tried to serve them nuts and berries for breakfast. Some of which turned out to be poisonous. That was not a good day for Scarlet.

Having awoken before Theoraan, Scarlet thought to be considerate and provide breakfast that day. Hence, she had went around scavenging for things to eat. She did see a rabbit but decided not to catch it as they rarely cooked for breakfast. Thus far, breakfast had always been fruits picked by Theoraan or leftover smoked meat from the evening before. After a while she managed to collect a fairly large amount of nuts and berries and so returned back to camp. When she got back, Theoraan was already awake and watching her return. After she put the collected food down, she picked up a berry and was just about to pop it into her mouth when Theoraan lunged across and grabbed her forearm. Stunned, Scarlet stayed still with her mouth open and her fingers just a couple of centimetres. Unfortunately for him, the berry was already in her mouth and she had already bit down on it.

Thankfully for them both, the berry tasted awfully bitter and Scarlet quickly spat it out. The next thing she knew, Theoraan was back with his waterskin which he offered to her insistently. Looking between the waterskin and Theoraan, understanding dawned in Scarlet's eyes. Quickly, she took the waterskin from him and began to chug down water like a drowning man until the skin was empty. Whilst she did that, Theoraan quickly wrapped his hand in a cloth and collected the rest of the food she brought and threw them out away from camp.

Once she was done chugging, Theoraan yanked Scarlet up from her seat and dragged her to the nearest stream, plucking some leaves on the way. At the stream, he quickly thrust her hands into the water and rubbed them all over, trying to get them clean. He then crushed the leaves he plucked and rubbed the resulting paste all over her hands and fingers too. Again Scarlet was confused, until her skin began to itch something bad and swell a little.

'Oh god, Ariel Scarlet Winters, you complete and utter genius' she thought as she continued to rub the paste on her hands by herself now that she understood what was going on. 'Not only did you pick poisonous berries and try to kill your current benefactor, you had to pick those that came from the poison ivy equivalent of this place; wherever this place is. You, madam, are a champion of the highest order. There is a reason dad taught you flora and fauna extensively you know. '

Of course, with Scarlet, her own voice in her head berating her was not enough. The voice of her father also came forth. 'Yes, Scarlet, there is a reason why I insisted you memorise all that data on flora and fauna. Let's just hope that small amount you swallowed won't do anything to you.'

With a sigh, Scarlet turned her attention back to Theoraan who was now carefully inspecting her hands.

"Thank you," she said as she tried to give Theoraan a small smile. She felt incredibly guilty for the trouble she had caused and yet, also incredibly thankful for his quick response; hence Scarlet felt the need to say something even though she knew he would not understand.

Her voice made Theoraan look up from his inspection. At her embarrassed face and shy smile, he could guess what she had said. Feeling the need to reassure her, he simply patted her hand, gave a half smile, nodded and then stood before helping her up.

After that, they walked slowly back to camp.

Scarlet spent the rest of the day struggling, and sometimes failing, not to scratch at her hands. She tried everything from keeping her hands in clenched fists to interlocking her fingers in a firm grip on her staff to continuously shaking her free hand but it was still not enough. A couple of times she wanted to swear real bad but she managed to keep everything to a mumbling grumble. In order to distract herself, Scarlet finally tried to interact with Theoraan by tapping him and randomly pointing to various plants around them whilst giving the questioning face. Theoraan personally preferred to travel with purpose in silence but seeing her struggle with the itch made him relent and start pointing out plants and explaining their names and uses on his own initiative. Naturally the only thing she managed to grasp was how to identify the plant, its name and whether it was good or bad from Theoraan's gestures but getting an education whilst 'talking' to each other surely was not a bad thing.

* * *

Of course, their journey together was not some jolly frolic through the woods. There were naturally other beings with more malevolent tendencies such as orcs, and bad men with neither moral nor honour. The pair had the distinct honour of encountering some of these despicable men one evening on their travels.

It was early evening and Theoraan was somewhere away from camp, probably hunting, and Scarlet had been given a needle and thread to mend her own clothes and his shirt. When he had passed it to her she could not refrain from rolling her eyes at the 'woman work' he assigned. Scarlet did not like that Theoraan frequently refused to let her hunt. She felt like she was freeloading on his efforts and not contributing sufficiently to be on equal ground with him.

Regardless of her inner feelings, Scarlet had accepted the assignment and sat down to begin working. Whilst she was concentrating on her stitching, a gang of burly men had noticed the campfire glow in the waning light of day. Seeing that there was only a solo, unarmed young lady, the men thought they had hit the jackpot and were going to get some that night.

Unfortunately for them, Scarlet's well-honed caution and paranoia still persisted and she sensed their approach even before they stepped out of the shadows. Pretending that all was well, Scarlet quickly finished the stitch, because it would be a waste of time and effort to let it unravel in the ensuring fight, and set Theoraan's shirt aside. Causally tucking Theoraan's knife, which she had yet to return, into a holster, which he had relented and given her, Scarlet pretended to yawn and stretch her back and arms before placing one hand on her staff beside her.

The men chose that moment to enter the campsite with smug grins on their faces.

"Well, well, what have we here boys?"

Scarlet ignored their jaunts that she did not understand and surreptitiously cast her eyes about; mentally counting their numbers. Six; there were six of them in total. So confident in their strengths that they had not bothered to surround and entrap her. The leader stood at the forefront with his two henchmen at each side. The remaining three stood slightly apart from that pack, two on the left, one on the right, hence forming a semi-circle of sorts around her.

As the leader continued to blabber on and have his henchmen laugh at his jokes, Scarlet slowly inched the staff closer towards her. When at last the leader got tired at her lack of answers and made a move towards her, she quickly sprang out of her seating position and put distance between them. She kept her staff lowered in a non-threatening manner but maintained a tight grip. Scarlet eyed the startled men whilst constantly hoping that Theoraan would return soon. She also hoped that he himself was fine and had not encountered troubles of his own.

The two parties stood still for a while; the men, not knowing what to make of her and Scarlet, trying to use eye-power to will the men not to do anything stupid. Sadly, eye-powers were not her forte and naturally, the attempt failed.

Now on guard, the men tried to form a circle around her. Sensing that they had finally turned hostile, Scarlet raised her staff and gripped it with both hands, switching her stance to prepare for any sudden movements. The leader of the men, becoming impatient, finally stomped forwards to make a grab at her again. This time, Scarlet stood her ground and instead smacked his hand away with her staff as a warning strike. The leader was affronted and tried to intimidate Scarlet by coming in closer. Scarlet prevented his advance by pointing her staff at his centre, causing him to walk into her staff but advance no further. This, however, only served to infuriate the leader even more; prompting him to draw out his sword.

As a man of little worth but much pride, the leader instructed his followers to stand down. It would not do to be defeated by a girl who refused to be intimidated. Unfortunately for him, that was exactly what happened. Not five moves into the 'fight' Scarlet had hit the leader in the arm, causing him to drop his sword, and in the left ribs and in the right kneecap. So assured of their strength, these men wore neither body armour nor helmet, making them susceptible to the blunt force of her staff.

Groaning in pain, completely embarrassed and rightfully indignant at his loss, the leader quickly retracted his previous orders and screamed at his men to attack Scarlet and show her true fear. It was this scream that rang out through the forest and attracted the attention of Theoraan who was on his way back with two pheasants; hunting went well that evening. Now alert, Theoraan paid careful attention to the faint cries that were echoing through the forest.

Hearing the words 'Get her!' sent a chill through his bones. Immediately dropping the dead pheasants, Theoraan ran towards the campsite.

Meanwhile, Scarlet had to admit, she was in a bit of a tight spot. Careers were trained to gang up and take out the stranglers one by one. Now, the roles were reversed and the odds were not in her favour. Swiftly whacking one on the head with one end of the staff, she made a quick twist to block a swing of another's sword before jabbing the other end into the stomach of the third. She had already knocked out the leader and another with blows to the head but she still had four grown men waving four swords to contend with. Ducking the swords of one, she took advantage of her low position to sweep another off his feet. A quick roll to the side helped her evade a grab from minion number 4 into open space where she managed to get back on her feet.

Facing the four minions left, Scarlet calmed her breathing. They were at another stand-off yet again. Then, Scarlet caught movement behind the men. It was Theoraan who had returned with his sword raised, ready to protect his unrequested ward. Theoraan had watched the scene as he ran back and he was secretly impressed with the fact that she had knocked out two of the men and still managed to hold her own with the other four. Stepping over the bodies of the two she had knocked out, he quietly approached the men from behind and signalled to Scarlet which men he'd take out whilst throwing her a small upward tilt of his mouth.

At his version of a grin, Scarlet's face also broke out into a grin. Shifting her stance such that she looked relaxed, Scarlet causally met the eyes of each men before nonchalantly pointing behind the men.

All four men turned to look back.

In that split second moment, Scarlet had launched herself at the man on the outside left to deliver a swift blow to the head, knocking him out instantly. At the same time, Theoraan had taken out the man on centre right, also with a swift blow to the head. As Theoraan crossed swords with the right most man, Scarlet was evading and blocking the swings of the remaining man. Scarlet was soon pushed to the outer edges of the campsite.

After Theoraan dealt the decisive blow to his opponent, he looked up just in time to see Scarlet's outstretched hand and the glint of the flying knife. Time seemed to freeze and for a moment, Theoraan had feared that she had betrayed him. That moment was quickly banished by the whoosh of the knife past his ear and the loud thud and gurgle that sounded out right behind him. Turning his head to look, Theoraan came face to face with the gang leader who had his sword raised above his head preparing to strike him down. Said leader also had a knife in his throat which was now spewing out precious lifeblood. Scarlet had struck a critical artery.

Letting out the breathe he did not know he was holding, Theoraan smiled to himself. He was now certain that whoever Scarlet was, she meant him no harm and evidently, would protect him to the best of her abilities; which, judging from the distance between her and the leader and the deadly accuracy of her throw, appeared to be quite impressive.

After that incident they tied up all the knocked out men. Scarlet stole their knives and money; Theoraan approved of the first but not the second but turned a blind eye to it. The two of them then went back to retrieve the dropped pheasants and had a celebratory feast, of sorts.

* * *

As time passed, they settled into a simple routine. They would trek from dawn to early evening, only stopping to rest for natural reasons or for a quick lunch. In the evenings, if they had ran out of smoked meat, they would take turns to hunt whilst the other built a fire. Whoever caught the food could then rest or wash up. The one who did not hunt had to cook and clean up after. That person could then go and wash up.

Scarlet preferred being clean and hence preferring to do hunting duty in exchange for more 'clean time'. Theoraan did not care as much but was reluctant to let Scarlet go and hunt until she managed to prove her hunting prowess by nailing a bird to the trunk with a throw of the knife. Of course, her method of hunting was far more troublesome since she had to climb the tree to get it down after, but food was food.

At night, Scarlet would take first watch, yet another duty that she needed to convince Theoraan she could take on, whilst Theoraan would take second watch till dawn and prepare breakfast. After they broke their fast, their travels would resume again unless they had more 'incidents'.

In any case, as the days passed, their interactions were still rather awkward but slowly but surely, they were becoming more and more comfortable with each other and starting to care for each other. All built from their moments of silence.

* * *

**The end of this chapter! Yes, I know this looks like a filler, and there are no fellowship members in sight but travel, the time spent travelling and the moments of travel is important! Anyway, next chapter is Bree!**

**OMAKE: The first time Scarlet tried to get clean**

Scarlet was a little disgruntled. Quite a few days had passed since the start of the Hunger Games and her accidental arrival here in… wherever she was. Since that time till now, she had yet to properly take a bath. At first it was because she thought she was in the Arena and could not risk getting caught with her pants down, literally. Now that she was not in the Arena and with pretty safe company, the grime was starting to really irritate her.

Finally she could take it no longer. When Theoraan went out hunting, she slipped away to the small stream nearby. Quickly stripping off her clothes, Scarlet ran into the cold water that only came up to her knees. Sitting herself down, Scarlet made sure her trusty stolen knife was within reach before quickly washing herself. Deciding that there was no point getting clean only to wear back dirty clothes, Scarlet also set about rinsing her attire. Once she was done, she realised it might not have been her greatest idea to wash up without a towel to dry herself. Fighting the chill, Scarlet quickly shook off the water from her waterproof windbreaker and pulled it on.

After squeezing out the water from the rest of her garments, Scarlet pulled her boots sans socks on before slipping back to the camp… only to see Theorann gutting a rabbit and chucking the guts into a dug hole.

Both stared at each other for a while. Scarlet closed her eyes and winced as she felt her face start to heat up with a blush. She had completely forgotten that she was not out in the woods training with her father but instead with a total stranger. Inhaling, she opened her eyes, ignored Theoraan in a determined manner and stalked over to a branch nearest to the fire to hang up her washing. As she raised her arms to hang her socks, trousers, shirt and underwear, she prayed to every deity she knew and hoped that her windbreaker did not rise up too high. Whille her windbreaker was a long one, it was still an insecure feeling and so her blush remained.

Meanwhile, Theoraan had somewhat gotten over his shock. When she first appeared underdressed, clothes in hand and hair dripping, well, surprised would be an understatement. The thought that she was trying to seduce him did briefly cross his mind but it was quickly quashed. She was clearly embarrassed. Despite being a grown man with a wife and kids, Theoraan himself could not stop blushing when Scarlet started to blush. Even his daughter did not run around the woods underdressed. At her dismissal, Theoraan simply shook his head and returned to preparing dinner.

Neither spoke nor made eye-contact for quite a while after that.

That was the moment Theoraan realised that Scarlet literally had nothing but the clothes on her back.

That was the moment when he decided that at Bree, he would buy her clothes.

Most importantly, that was the moment when he decided to set aside bath time for both parties in their travel routine.


End file.
